Work Text:
The quietness of Summer Camp Island was the first thing Hedgehog noticed as she woke up early one morning. A calm and peaceful atmosphere seemed to cover the island like a woolen blanket. Some of the campers had decided to play Baseball, supervised by Betsy, while most were content with relaxing for the day. One small panda in particular had been getting a lecture from Alice about sleeping in places he really shouldn't be, though her words were clearly falling on deaf ears. As Hedgehog was about to inquire about the strange silence she heard Oscar walk up to her, breakfast in hand.
"Does something seem… Off to you?" The young girl asked her friend who perked up at the question.
"Yeah, now that you mention it, things are a bit weird…" He looked around for a bit and noticed an odd anomaly, he couldn't find any signs of Susie. "Is Susie on another break? I don't think I've seen her all day."
"That's quite strange, perhaps one of the witches will know where she went." Hedgehog said with confidence as she headed towards the baseball field, with Oscar not far behind. Betsy was sitting in the stands wearing an old baseball jersey and a cap with a magic logo on the front. She seemed a bit distracted and was looking far past the field into the forest nearby. She nearly jumped as Hedgehog put a hand on her shoulder but she quickly composed herself. "Hey Hedgehog, Hey Oscar. What's going on?"
"Well, we wanted to know if you have any clue about where Susie is? We haven't seen her all day." Hedgehog asked as she tried to follow Betsy's prior gaze. Betsy paused for what seemed like an eternity as the young mare contemplated whether or not she should tell the duo what she knew. With a heavy sigh, Betsy looked up and pointed to a place between the trees that she had been looking at. From this distance it was hard to make out, but it appeared to be a clearing in the woods in the shape of an hourglass.
"She's gone there. She goes there on this exact day, every year. I think it would be best if you don't disturb her. But…" She trailed off as if a thought had caught her attention before turning to the pair she was talking to and saying sternly, "Susie rarely let's anyone into the clearing there, she has a magic barrier in place for that reason… But me and Alice are worried about her. Maybe you two could figure out what she's doing there, and help her… If that's not too much trouble to ask." Betsy said the last part in a rather sheepish manner as she gave the two her best puppy dog eyes.
They both nodded to Betsy and promised that they would do their best to help Susie out. The path to the hourglass wasn't long but the pair of friends noticed as they got closer to the field, the trees seemed to become younger than in the rest of the forest. As they were only a few feet from the base of the hourglass clearing they noticed that all the trees in the area were nothing but saplings. Neither Hedgehog nor Oscar could see Susie in the clearing and they had begun to suspect that Betsy had given them false information. That was until Oscar tried to step into the clearing, his foot hit something solid as he did so. Hedgehog promptly tried putting a hand into the clearing and, sure enough, she too felt a strange solid object. The realization hit the pair quite quickly as they began to skirt around the force field looking for an entrance.
They had made it all the way to the other side of the clearing and found no way to get in. Feeling defeated, Oscar slumped down and stared at the force field with a sigh. Though Oscar's spirits were defeated, Hedgehog's only boldened seeing her dear friend upset. She pounded at the force field in a futile attempt to break through. Just as she was about to give up alongside Oscar, a memory of a spell Betsy had taught her came back. She picked Oscar up and held his hand, the closeness of the gesture set Oscar's heart fluttering. With only two words, the pair felt a strange power flowing through them. Betsy, knowing Oscar and Hedgehog's deep bond, had taught her protege a special spell that would allow their feelings for each other strengthen themselves. With one swift punch, a small hole in the barrier appeared and the two climbed through.
Nothing could have prepared them for what they saw before them. A powerful storm raged on the island, and the pair could see a familiar face running towards the hourglass clearing, Ramona.
"Come on RayRay! We don't have much time." A soft voice came from their right, it was familiar but abnormal all at the same time. They looked to see a young Susie standing mere feet away from them. A loud gonging of a clock could be heard nearby as Ramona tripped just shy of the hourglass. "RayRay, you gotta get up. I can't leave the clearing... Please get up! I'm... I'm sorry!" The storm grew louder and all the noise in the area was drowned out, though Susie still called out for her friend. Just before everything went white, Hedgehog could make out three words on Ramona's lips. "I. Forgive. You…"
After the white light faded, the two found themselves back in the present, the clearing was empty except for one person sitting in the center, crying. Hedgehog and Oscar approached Susie, she seemed to know of their presence but chose to not acknowledge them. "I didn't get a chance to save her… If I hadn't gone ahead I could have helped her and she wouldn't be stuck in time." Susie uttered as she looked at the ground, not breaking contact with it.
"Susie, you can't beat yourself up over all of this. I'm sure there is a way to get Ramona out of suspended time, we can help." Hedgehog smiled at the usually rude counselor and for the briefest moment, she could see Susie smiling back.